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  According to the World Press Freedom Index, the Republic of Armenia improved its position in 2022 taking the 51^st place among 180 countries. The Chairman of the Commission on Television and Radio Tigran Hakobyan said this.

The annual report on the activity of the Commission on Television and Radio for 2022 and the state of freedom of information in the sphere of audiovisual media was debated at April 4 sitting of the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport.

“In 2022, the media operating under the regulation of the Commission operated freely, independently, without interference from the state,” the Chairman of the Commission on Television and Radio said adding that the Commission has written to all broadcasters to find out if there was any pressure from different branches of Government or by state institutions. According to Tigran Hakobyan, almost no broadcaster submitted a complaint, except for three broadcasters. He presented, in particular, only one complaint, Shark LLC, Channel 5.

“Discriminatory and disrespectful attitudes of some NA deputies towards the media and journalists are also noticeable for the Commission. However, such manifestations are not regular and widespread, and we think that this is a solvable problem,” Tigran Hakobyan said underscoring that the representatives of legislative, executive and judicial bodies should show maximum respect and restraint towards journalists.

Touching upon the independence, transparency and accountability of the Commission’s activity, Tigran Hakobyan underlined that the Commission operates independently.

In the financial year, the Commission convened 55 sittings and adopted 149 decisions.

As a result of the Commission’s efforts and controlling functions, the number of programmes in the Armenian language has increased.

The MPs’ questions related to media literacy, the fight against uncontrollable information flows, the development of toolsets aimed at preventing shadow financing, the licensing of TV stations, the content of the Code of Ethics.